Moment 10: In the War of 13-12, Novak Djokovic closes the decade with one last epic escape

WATCH: Game, Set, Bet: Be smart with Djokovic and Wimbledon

Is the Big 3’s Grand Slam title race finally over? It appears so. Now that we (probably) know the winner, we’re looking back at the times when this two-decade marathon might have gone a different way.

For more on GOAT Race, a 10-part series leading up to Wimbledon, read...

• Moment 1: 2007 Wimbledon final: Nadal “seizes up” with break points in the fifth
• Moment 2: 2008 Wimbledon final: Federer’s four-hour comeback comes up one break point short
• Moment 3: 2010 US Open semifinal: Djokovic “closes his eyes” and hits two huge, match-saving forehands against Federer
• Moment 4: 2011 Roland Garros semifinal: Federer stops a 41-match win streak, and wags a finger
• Moment 5: 2011 US Open semifinal: Djokovic's all-or-nothing forehand return heard 'round the world
• Moment 6: 2012 Australian Open final: t 1:37 a.m., Djokovic topples Nadal in grandiose, grunt-filled Aussie Open epic
• Moment 7: 2013 Roland Garros semifinal: Djokovic stumbles into net, opening door for Nadal to seize Roland Garros classic
• Moment 8: 2017 Australian Open final: Roger Federer frees his backhand Down Under—and starts a renaissance at 35
• Moment 9: 2018 Wimbledon semifinal: With one forehand, Djokovic ends Roger and Rafa's Indian Summer

2019 Wimbledon final: In the War of 13-12, Djokovic closes the decade with one last epic escape

The 2010s were a decade of outsized achievements in tennis. The numbers speak for themselves. A 70-68 set. Four players with 20 or more Grand Slam titles. Two with career Golden Slams, one with 14 wins at Roland Garros, another with a complete set of major and Masters titles two times over. The first British men’s winner at Wimbledon in 77 years.

So it was only fitting that two of the era’s protagonists, Djokovic and Federer, would bring down the curtain on those 10 extraordinary years with The War of 13-12, a classic match that ended with its own unique, never-to-be-repeated pair of numbers. The result, while painful for Federer fans, was also historically fitting. Djokovic was the best male player of that decade, in large part because of his uncanny ability to come out on top in see-saw epics like this one.

Numbers-wise, this was the most unlikely of all of Djokovic’s biggest victories. He won 14 fewer points than Federer (218 to 204), hit 40 fewer winners (94 to 54) and 15 fewer aces (25 to 10), and created five fewer break point opportunities (13 to eight). Djokovic’s form swung wildly over the afternoon, he threw away the second set, he struggled to read Federer’s serve and failed to break it for three hours. He tightened up at 4-2 in the fifth set and gave the lead back. He trailed in all three of the sets he won. He was a point away from defeat twice. But when the points counted most, Djokovic was impenetrable. In the match’s three tiebreaks, he locked down and made virtually no mistakes.

The two points that will forever count the most in fans’ minds came with Federer serving at 8-7. When the 37-year-old hit two aces to reach double championship point, it looked like the game’s most popular player was going to close out the decade, and perhaps his career, in fairytale fashion. The crowd was on its feet, the glasses of Pimm’s were raised, chants of “Ro-ger!” filled the air…and then Federer missed a forehand, Djokovic hooked a forehand pass for a winner—the same forehand pass that saved him in his semifinal against Nadal the year before—and Federer put another forehand into the net at break point. Somehow, the score was 8-8, the fans were back in their seats, and Djokovic was alive.

Eight games later, they started the first 12-12 tiebreak in Wimbledon singles history. Hitting through his nerves, his opponent, and the crowd, Djokovic came up with two of the biggest winners of his career—first a forehand and then a sizzling down-the-line backhand—to reach championship point. When Federer’s next forehand shanked off the frame and sailed far out of court, Djokovic walked to the net with a crooked smile on his face, as if to say, “Look what I just pulled off.”

“It was one shot away from losing the match,” said Djokovic, not for the first time after a match with Federer. “It could have gone easily his way.”

That was the story of the match, the decade, and the Big 3’s Goat Race. They all could have gone another way, but in the end, they went Djokovic’s.